SoftBank and Toyota want driverless cars to change the world

SoftBank and Toyota want to change the world of transportation through autonomous vehicles and other technologies.

The high-profileJapanese companies are forming a joint venture called Monet to develop businesses that will use driverless-car technology to offer new services, such as mobile convenience stores and delivery vehicles in which food is prepared en route.

SoftBank(SFTBF) will own just over half of Monet, while Toyota(TM) will hold the rest.

The new company's name isn't a reference to Claude Monet, the famous French painter, but rather a shortened version of the words "mobility network."

Toyota President Akio Toyoda and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son attended the announcement of the project Thursday in Tokyo, a rare joint appearance by the heads of two of Japan's biggest global companies.

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and Toyota President Akio Toyoda in Tokyo on Thursday.

Toyota first approached SoftBank with the idea of creating a Japanese alliance to try to catch up with global rivals that are developing autonomous driving tech.

Around the world, top carmakers and tech companies like Google's parent, Alphabet(GOOGL), and China's Baidu(BIDU) are pouring resources into self-driving vehicles.

Driverless vehicles have the potential to cause huge disruption in the auto industry and are also likely totransform the ride-hailing business.

The new venture taps into SoftBank's advantages in tech and data, and Toyota's vehicle-manufacturing expertise. Itsaims include developing ways to tackle problems created by Japan's rapidly aging society and shrinking workforce.

Over the next decade, Monet plans to roll out services like self-driving buses that can drive the elderly to grocery stores, hospital shuttles where medical exams can be done on board, and mobile offices. It will focus initially on Japan with a view to expanding globally.